McGruff
by meekobb
Summary: An unexpected teammate has a soft spot in their heart...


**Title:** McGruff

**Character/Pairing:** Anthony DiNozzo, Ziva David.

**Rating:** Gen, Humor, Fluff.

**Spoilers:** None.

**Author Note:** Prompted by vamp926. Hope you like! Comments = Love!

_Tap, tap, tap._

_Tap, tap, tap._

_Tap, tap, tap._

"Tony! Stop it!" Ziva exclaimed from her desk, growing increasingly frustrated by her partner's constant pen tapping on his desk.

Out of pure boredom, DiNozzo sighed as he capped his pen and carelessly tossed it back into the pen holder. "Zee-vah, what are we doing here still?" he whined.

"Gibbs said not to leave until our reports are finished. You have no completed yours," she pointed out.

"Yea… I know that much, but he's gone home for the night. I'm hungry and I can't write a decent report on an empty stomach," he replied pushing himself out of his chair. Tony nearly fell back into it when a clap of thunder rang outside the office. He turned to stare at the windows, startled and annoyed at the sudden storm that was brewing.

"Aww! Why does it always have to be like this!" he cried out.

"Tony – you can't be seriously thinking of going to get food in that."

Ziva stood and walked around her desk to go peer out the window. "It is really bad out there. We have not had a storm like this since…" she turned around to look back at Tony, but he was already heading for the elevator.  
"Tony!"

"I'll be back! I promise! I'll bring something for you too!" DiNozzo said, his grin showing off his perfect teeth.

"I am not responsible for you if Gibbs comes back!" Ziva called after him as the doors closed.

She looked back out the window, shaking her head before turning back to the bull pen. Pacing the empty floor, Ziva couldn't help but feel the weight of NCIS in the dark quietness. The office lighting had been turned down and there was minimal staff in the building. Of course, the team leader would not expect his people to leave before they completed their work, and partners don't leave each other behind.

Ziva moved to do a few stretches on the floor to loosen the tension that had built up in her body from their most recent case. Unconsciously, her eyes continued to stray to the clock, watching the minutes tick by. Satisfied with her impromptu exercises, she moved back to her desk to find something to occupy herself. She wasn't into computer games like her partner, and all she really had on it was solitaire and even that became tedious after a few hands.

A look back at her watch, Ziva frowned in worry. Tony was taking much longer than he took for his lunch breaks on slow days. Two hours later, she flipped open her phone and started dialing his cell phone, only to receive his voicemail. Hanging up in frustration, she stood and grabbed her coat and handbag to head for the elevator.

Before she reached it though, it opened revealing a very drenched Anthony DiNozzo. His short hair was dripping, clinging around his face, his eyes tired, and he appeared out of breath. However that was not what really captured Ziva's attention. It was what he held in his arms that made her began cooing – very un-Ziva like.

In his left arm was a bag, drowned from the rain. Dinner was going to be – wet. In his right arm, Tony held a small puppy. Couldn't have been more than five or six weeks old.

"Tony?!" Ziva asked, a question and statement in one.

"Well you wouldn't believe it. I was walking out of the Chinese restaurant when I heard this little guy crying. He was huddled under a car in the gutter. It looked so sad that I just couldn't leave it, but what am I going to do with a dog?"

"Tony, I'm sure you will find it a loving home," Ziva said, taking the small pup from his hands. "Aww he's adorable! I'm sure your landlord would let you keep him. He doesn't look like he would grow too big. Maybe fifteen or twenty pounds?"

"A dog? With my Italian living room set? I don't think so! You can keep it!"

"You know pets aren't allowed in my building," Ziva replied.

"And you know that I'm barely home! If I'm not here, I'm on a date with – someone," Tony said, pulling dinner out for the two of them.

"It would not hurt you to stay in more. Whatever happened to our weekly movie night? We could start that up again?"

"Ziva…" Tony started to object, but his eyes caught his friend and partner playing with the small puppy. "Ziva – I'll see what I can do. Let's see if he can eat some of this rice at least. I'll stop at the market on my way home after I finish my report to get him some stuff – just for the short time."

"Very well. Now eat, I'll keep this little man occupied so that we can leave sooner. I will help you with the shopping. I'm sure you would need food, bowls, pads, cleaner…"

"Ziva! Pad? Cleaners?"

"I honestly doubt this little thing is housebroken already. Perhaps a crate to keep him in while you sleep?" she suggested.

"Oh my credit card is going to love me," Tony groaned, sitting down to eat and work on his report again. Maybe he will keep the puppy. He smiled as he glanced up from his computer at the sight of Ziva David, Mossad assassin, playing puppy wrestling on the floor.

"What do you think if we named it McGruff?" Tony grinned from his seat, only to be hit in the head with a chop stick.


End file.
